Fergal Lynch, one of three jockeys cleared on charges of conspiracy to defraud at the Old Bailey 12 days ago, is free to resume his riding career in Britain after the British Horseracing Authority agreed to renew his licence yesterday morning. However, with disciplinary proceedings against Lynch still expected early in the new year on the basis of evidence presented at his trial, his return to action could well be brief.

Lynch's licence was suspended in the summer of 2006 when he was charged following a police investigation into alleged race-fixing, and it was not renewed when it lapsed in March. Lynch handed his licence application to Paul Struthers, the BHA's PR Manager, as he left the Old Bailey on December 7, but the fact that he was in front of the committee for nearly two hours suggests that his appearance involved more than a rubber stamp.

During Lynch's trial, his counsel admitted that the jockey had associated, and discussed racing issues, with Miles Rodgers, one of his co-defendants, who was a disqualified person at the time of the contacts. It was also admitted that Lynch had asked Rodgers to place bets on racing on his behalf.

Two more jockeys, Kieren Fallon and Darren Williams, were on trial alongside Lynch, and counsel for both men also made admissions to the court that could be the basis of disciplinary proceedings. As yet, the BHA has no idea if or when a hearing of its disciplinary panel might be convened to consider their cases.

"The committee would certainly have been aware of some of the admissions that were made in court," Struthers said yesterday, "but it is not their role to take decisions on that basis. Those are matters for consideration by the disciplinary panel in due course once the review of the evidence relating to the trial is complete.

"The committee did question Fergal Lynch about these matters but, in light of the ongoing review of evidence being undertaken by the legal department, the time elapsed since the events raised in court took place and having highlighted to Fergal Lynch the relevant rules of racing, including the new inside information rules, the committee decided to grant Fergal Lynch a licence."

Lynch is not expected to ride in Britain until the new year, while Williams has requested an application form for a new licence, but has yet to return it to the BHA. As a result, he will not be able to appear in front of the licensing committee until the new year. He is currently riding work for Karl Burke, who retained him as a stable jockey until his licence was suspended.

Both riders are likely to attract significant attention when they return to the track, though nothing like the media circus that would have attended Kieren Fallon in the same circumstances. Fallon, though, seems unlikely to reach the necessary level of fitness to ride in a race prior to his appearance before France-Galop's disciplinary panel following his positive test for cocaine at Deauville in August.

Fallon may also be summoned to the BHA to account for admissions made to the Old Bailey on his behalf, although he can expect to be banned for at least 18 months should the French panel accept the results of the test.

However, it is now nearly three and a half years since the arrest of Fallon, Lynch and Williams by officers from City of London police, and the riders are likely to be as eager as the regulators to draw some sort of a line under the episode. As a result, it seems likely that a disciplinary hearing into matters arising from the trial will be held before the end of January.